Commenting on Wednesday's statement by the European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker that no Western Balkan country will join the EU before the end of the mandate of the current EC in 2019, Dacic said that "this is nothing different from what he has said before" - and that "it can be said that Junker was softer than before when it comes to enlargement."

"The enlargement of the EU is a process that is remedial for EU's survival," Serbia's foreign minister and first deputy PM told RTS on Thursday morning.

He reiterated that more serious dialogue on chapter 31 - foreign, security and defense policy will begin in October, when a delegation from the European External Action Service, led by the High Representative Federica Mogherini, will come to Serbia.

He added that Serbia has a deadline to align its foreign and defense policy by the time it joins the EU.

Dacic said he hoped that until that time, the conflict between Russia and the United States would have ended, "because when elephants are fighting, usually the grass gets hurt."

"If by the time we join the EU - which we don't know when that might be - the conflict with Russia has not ended, then we will all have a big problem, including the European Union itself. That's why I said that we should look after our own interests," said Dacic.